Governor candidates find Hispanic issues on their plates

Thursday

Apr 24, 2008 at 12:01 AM

By ABRAHAM MAHSHIE of the Tribune's staff

Correction appended

JEFFERSON CITY - Missouri gubernatorial candidates are finding themselves in the middle of the immigration debate as they yield to calls for tighter immigration laws without alienating the 161,000 Hispanics in the state.

Gov. Matt Blunt laid the groundwork for this session's flurry of more than 30 bills addressing illegal immigration with comments in his State of the State address as he supported English as the language of official proceedings and called for legislators to "turn the magnets off" that attract illegal immigrants.

Many Hispanics are opposed to the pending bills, contending they contribute to an anti-immigrant sentiment in the state. Blunt, who decided since his remarks in January not to seek re-election, brought a toned-down message to Hispanics Tuesday at a town hall-style meeting.

Positions expressed by the campaigns of two Republican candidates for governor resemble his.

State Treasurer Sarah Steelman briefly spoke to the group, highlighting her support for Big Missouri, a loan program that gives priority to minorities and women while exploring ways to step up micro-financing. "The public is very frustrated that the federal government is doing nothing about illegal immigration in this country," she later told the Tribune. "I think the focus should be on the employers, ? and they are the ones that are breaking the law."

Asked how she would prevent racial profiling, Steelman said, "I think that the law enforcement needs to be very careful and respectful about treating American citizens or immigrants who are here legally with the respect that they're due."

Steelman supports the English-language measure, saying, "I think that English is important to people as the official language, and I don't think anyone should feel alienated because of that."

U.S. Rep. Kenny Hulshof, R-Columbia, did not attend any of the Hispanic Day events at the Capitol, but a spokesman described his position in a phone interview.

"As we talk about immigration, we're not talking about those who have been here legally. ? We're talking about those who are flouting those laws and are here illegally," spokesman Scott Baker said, adding that Hulshof is "very, very frustrated" with Washington's failure to enact comprehensive immigration legislation.

Baker also said Hulshof supports making English the state's official language. Asked how Hulshof intends to prevent state laws from spurring racial profiling, Baker replied that the laws pertain to illegal, not legal, immigrants.

Democratic candidate Jay Nixon, the state's attorney general, met Tuesday with about a dozen Hispanics, highlighting his support for many of their concerns.

"The real challenge we have right now is the ? disempowering feeling of driving the speed limit, driving home and for no reason being stopped," he said. Nixon said Missouri is the only state that collects and tracks data on race and ethnicity of motorists in traffic stops to prevent racial profiling.

Based on 2006 data, Nixon said, people of color - including blacks and Hispanics - were not stopped disproportionately to their population. Those motorists, however, were searched twice as often though they were less likely than whites to be found with contraband. He said discovering such inconsistencies is crucial to finding where racial profiling occurs and stopping it.

Nixon also worries that lawmakers would take the English-language issue too far.

"My fear is that some of the actions" in the General Assembly "will limit what government can do as far as providing access to Spanish speakers and others," he said. "As a government, it's our responsibility to communicate and to engage with folks that are attempting to follow our rules and follow our laws."

Reach Abraham Mahshie at (573) 815-1733 or amahshie@tribmail.com.

SECOND THOUGHTS: Friday, April 25, 2008

A story yesterday about gubernatorial candidates' positions on Hispanic issues incorrectly reported that Attorney General Jay Nixon said that 2006 data show black and Hispanic motorists were stopped at a rate proportional to their populations. Nixon said that Hispanic motorists were not stopped disproportionately, but blacks were.

SECOND THOUGHTS: Monday, April 28, 2008

A photo in Thursday's paper with a story about immigration issues incorrectly